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WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

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Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

MavHockey14 said:
It was about 50 tickets over a sellout. A freaking sellout for UAA. Tech series could be epic.
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I don't think USCHO has updated their numbers since the ice size was reduced and more seats were added. USCHO lists the cap. at 4832. The center's site lists it as 5280. Which one is accurate? I don't know for sure. Exciting none the less! The Duluth games attendance was 5375 and the Saturday UAA game was 4870. The Tech Series should be fun. Both teams will be playing in Alaska this weekend so we won't know how the conference looks until early Sunday morning... Normal time zones... that is.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

I just crunched the nubers, and so far, attendance at LSSU is up from about 1700 per game last season to 1944 so far this year. We're still probably bringing up the rear in league attendance, but an increase is still an increase. Will have to see how that changes with the big series against Huntsville this coming weekend.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

crossjcek said:
I don't think USCHO has updated their numbers since the ice size was reduced and more seats were added. USCHO lists the cap. at 4832. The center's site lists it as 5280. Which one is accurate? I don't know for sure. Exciting none the less! The Duluth games attendance was 5375 and the Saturday UAA game was 4870. The Tech Series should be fun. Both teams will be playing in Alaska this weekend so we won't know how the conference looks until early Sunday morning... Normal time zones... that is.
Click to expand...

I believe that 5280 is the correct number. It did not look like a sellout on Saturday. Too many empty seats on the ends, and nobody was standing.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

Is there an accurate or standard-practice way to calculate standing room? Or do arenas just make up the numbers?
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

The WCHA finished the non-conference season with a 30-29-9 mark. That works out to 50.8 %, or the third best league in the country behind the NCHC and Hockey East.

Alabama-Huntsville (1-4-3):
@Colorado College (2) Loss 3-2, Loss 4-3
@Northern Michigan (2) Tie 1-1, Loss 4-1
@Air Force (2) Win 4-2, Tie 3-3
@Nebraska-Omaha (2) Loss 2-1, Tie 3-3

Alaska (5-1-0):
Wisconsin (1) Win 1-0
Maine (1) Win 5-2
Air Force (1) Win 4-3
Penn State (1) Win 4-3
@Western Michigan (2) Win 1-0, Loss 4-2

Alaska Anchorage (3-1-2):
Maine (1) Win 3-1
Wisconsin (1) Win 4-2
Penn State (1) Tie 3-3
Air Force (1) Win 4-1
@Maine (2) Loss 3-1, Tie 3-3

Bemidji State (4-4-0):
North Dakota home and home Win in Grand Forks 5-1, loss in Bemidji 2-1
@Minnesota (2) Loss 5-2, Loss 5-3
St. Cloud (2) Loss 6-3, Win 4-1
North Star Cup Win over UMD 4-0, Win over Mankato 3-1

Bowling Green (4-2-2):
Miami home and home Win in Bowling Green 3-2, loss in Oxford 3-2
@Clarkson (2) Tie 2-2, Win 5-4
Ohio State home and home Loss 3-2 in Bowling Green, win 3-2 in Columbus
Robert Morris Tie in Toledo 2-2, Win at Robert Morris 4-1

Ferris State (3-5-1):
Michigan (1) Win 4-3
@St. Lawrence (2) Win 3-2 (OT), Loss 2-0
@Michigan State (2) Win 1-0, Loss 4-1
@Wisconsin (2) Tie 1-1, Loss 5-3
GLI (2) Loss to Michigan State 2-0, Loss to Michigan Tech 4-2

Lake Superior State (1-6-1):
@Robert Morris (2) Loss 3-1, Loss 3-0
@Notre Dame (2) Loss 5-3, Loss 5-1
@North Dakota (2) Loss 7-4, Loss 3-1
Florida Classic (2) Tie Cornell 0-0, Win over Notre Dame 2-1

MSU-Mankato (4-3-0):
@Nebraska-Omaha (2) Loss 5-3, Win 4-2
Duluth home and home Win 5-4 (OT) in Duluth, Loss 6-2 in Mankato
Princeton (2) Win 5-0, Cancelled due to Flu
North Star Win over Minnesota 4-2, Loss to Bemidji 3-1

Michigan Tech (5-3-0):
Michigan (2) Win 4-1, Win 6-1
Duluth (2) Loss 3-1, Win 4-3
GLI (2) Loss to Michigan 2-1, Win over Ferris State 4-2
@Wisconsin Win 8-1, Loss 2-0

Northern Michigan (3-3-2):
Wisconsin at Green Bay (2) Win 2-0, Win 4-1
Alabama-Huntsville (2) Tie 1-1, Win 4-1
@Penn State (2) Loss 5-4, Tie 5-5
@Duluth (2) Loss 3-1, Loss 6-3
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

manurespreader said:
This is an interesting article if you didn't see it.. Everyone should be aware of the regional issues. Especially interesting is the comments at the end.

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2015/02/06_between_the_lines_outstanding.php
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good article.

personally I think we are in for some changes. this is just my own feeling, I have absolutely nothing to back this up, but with ASU adding hockey I can't imagine UofA wanting some too. if that happens I think we will see more Western teams come aboard. maybe not this year or next year or the next year, but sometime in the next ten years. more and more baby boomers are retiring with substantial amounts of money in their pockets, as are big time NHL stars who came up through college hockey. and despite its boutique reputation, college hockey can be lucrative for schools. with several more schools on board, realignment will be more likely. and perhaps longer travel distances won't be so scary for eastern schools who are use to short bus rides.

two, instead of four regional sites??? this makes perfect sense to me.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

huskyfan said:
two, instead of four regional sites??? this makes perfect sense to me.
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After seeing the NCAA tournament in a two site style regional round, I could not disagree more.

When this model was used from 1992-2002, it was one logistical nightmare after another. Those 12 team tournaments had 6 teams at each site, and very few buildings have the locker room capacity to house more than 4 comfortably. Basketball teams can switch locker rooms and make use of smaller spaces much easier, where hockey demands much more space and with access to the ice surface. There's also the issue of practice ice time for that many teams in one site. For those 11 years, there were two teams with byes that mitigated the problem slightly in some buildings, but with 8 all playing the same day it would be next to impossible. You've also got 8 different radio stations looking to broadcast, and in some cases a lot of traveling media - not to mention the tournament staff needed to deal with 8 teams.

I will never forget this image from the 2002 West Regional - Denver was the #1 seed in the region and was forced to use a locker room ACROSS A PARKING LOT from Yost Arena in the baseball stadium. Their managers had to put their goalies on top of a wheeled equipment case and wheel them across to get to practice. It was absolutely embarrassing and unfair.

A four team regional is a fair setup. Eight can only happen in about a half dozen buildings and even then it would be difficult at the absolute best.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

John J. MacInnes said:
After seeing the NCAA tournament in a two site style regional round, I could not disagree more.

When this model was used from 1992-2002, it was one logistical nightmare after another. Those 12 team tournaments had 6 teams at each site, and very few buildings have the locker room capacity to house more than 4 comfortably. Basketball teams can switch locker rooms and make use of smaller spaces much easier, where hockey demands much more space and with access to the ice surface. There's also the issue of practice ice time for that many teams in one site. For those 11 years, there were two teams with byes that mitigated the problem slightly in some buildings, but with 8 all playing the same day it would be next to impossible. You've also got 8 different radio stations looking to broadcast, and in some cases a lot of traveling media - not to mention the tournament staff needed to deal with 8 teams.

I will never forget this image from the 2002 West Regional - Denver was the #1 seed in the region and was forced to use a locker room ACROSS A PARKING LOT from Yost Arena in the baseball stadium. Their managers had to put their goalies on top of a wheeled equipment case and wheel them across to get to practice. It was absolutely embarrassing and unfair.

A four team regional is a fair setup. Eight can only happen in about a half dozen buildings and even then it would be difficult at the absolute best.
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The ideal situation for a 8 team regional is 2 games Friday, 2 games Saturday, winners of Friday play Sunday afternoon, winners of saturday play Sunday night. There would never be a need for more than 4 teams in the building in a given day, unless we're worried about practice...
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

Shirtless Guy said:
The ideal situation for a 8 team regional is 2 games Friday, 2 games Saturday, winners of Friday play Sunday afternoon, winners of saturday play Sunday night. There would never be a need for more than 4 teams in the building in a given day, unless we're worried about practice...
Click to expand...

I'm going to agree with one stipulation - that's the ideal situation for the fans. The NCAA puts the fan experience somewhere between making sure there are no logos in the arena and number of bars within a 30 mile radius of the arena.

You'd get a lot of pushback from the schools and teams. We've been down that "super regional" road before and it was less than successful.

And this still doesn't solve the locker room issue. Nobody wants to keep schlupping all that gear back and forth from room to room or building to building. The idea is to make the site easy for the teams, not create more roadblocks.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

John J. MacInnes said:
And this still doesn't solve the locker room issue. Nobody wants to keep schlupping all that gear back and forth from room to room or building to building. The idea is to make the site easy for the teams, not create more roadblocks.
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I don't see any issue with locker rooms. Most rinks have several. I think Tech has 5 (1 home, 4 visitors). Lowest three seeds change in the hallway like youth hockey or teams share. Problem solved. If a rack of sticks goes missing, I'm sure there will be a sporting goods store in town where the players can pick up the latest models at full retail prices.

So its settled, Tech will host the West super regional next year. Of course I'm not sure where everyone will sleep... Maybe we should rethink this idea.

Ryan J
 
Shirtless Guy said:
The ideal situation for a 8 team regional is 2 games Friday, 2 games Saturday, winners of Friday play Sunday afternoon, winners of saturday play Sunday night. There would never be a need for more than 4 teams in the building in a given day, unless we're worried about practice...
Click to expand...
so which rinks have 8 full locker room & training facilities, plus scheduling four practices and two games both Saturday & Sunday. John J has been to many, many barns and I have as well. It's a total logistical nightmare for all involved.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

So the first year the AK teams play either other in the playoffs, the next year they both miss the playoffs. Hmmmm... Don't tell me the league treasurer isn't pushing some buttons behind the scenes... Cost Containment - WCHA style... Don't go to Alaska for any post-season reason.
Click to expand...

So do you think anyone in the league is smart enough to bank some money from last year and this year so that if/when two teams have to travel to Alaska for the playoffs, there won't be any pathetic whining about the cost?

It'll happen. Alaska will be a consistent (meaning most, not all years) top 4 team and UAA hopefully will get their $hit together sooner or later. It looked very hopeful last seasn when they were pretty consistently decent and finished very strong. I'm utterly surprised at their backsliding this year.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

Well regardless, I think campus sites are unworkable and having the UND AD as the committee chair is not a great idea either. With campus sites you get too much of an advantage to the team hosting. For instance, Minnesota. if they host they have their own locker room, their own fans making a ton of noise, and most importantly the sheet is an olympic sheet that most other teams are not used to. It all adds up to too much of an advantage.

Add in the possibility of teams like Ferris hosting, at that minuscule place, or maybe Union, or some other small school, and it could be just as big a problem. And what if Ferris hosts, but then doesn't get in. ? The whole idea is unworkable.

I think a factor is that the neutral sites they use now need more than one year to develop some local interest. For instance give it to Van Andel for more than one year and I bet year two would be better. etc.

The problem is only an issue with the midwest regional anyway. All the other sites are ok.So we are considering ditching the whole format because one regional isn't making money?

Maybe give it to Green Bay for two years,or whatever. Some mid sized arena that's centrally located. I thought Toledo was a good place for it actually. It's a nice rink, near a lot of teams and not too big. I just think that it takes a while for the locals to find out about things.

Oh, and it would help if tickets were not too expensive.
 
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Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

why would two site regionals have to be crunched in to one or two days? make it three or four. and yes, hold them in the bigger nicer arenas. which are most likely in bigger cities which give fans more to do and thus attract more fans. and please don't use Yost as an example. I mean the bigger nicer newer arenas.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

huskyfan said:
why would two site regionals have to be crunched in to one or two days? make it three or four. and yes, hold them in the bigger nicer arenas. which are most likely in bigger cities which give fans more to do and thus attract more fans. and please don't use Yost as an example. I mean the bigger nicer newer arenas.
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Agreed,
OR,... hold it in Windsor, Ontario. Guaranteed full that way.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

who will win the tournament and the auto bid? will probably be wrong, but I just don't picture Mankato or Tech winning. I'm thinking Bowling Green or Bemidji.
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

huskyfan said:
why would two site regionals have to be crunched in to one or two days? make it three or four. and yes, hold them in the bigger nicer arenas. which are most likely in bigger cities which give fans more to do and thus attract more fans. and please don't use Yost as an example. I mean the bigger nicer newer arenas.
Click to expand...

So which rink has full dressing, equipment and trainer facilities for 8 NCAA D-I teams?
 
Re: WCHA 2014-15: Semi-colons make things seem important

huskyfan said:
and please don't use Yost as an example. I mean the bigger nicer newer arenas.
Click to expand...

Why not use Yost as an example? They've done it.

Here are all the arenas where a 6-team regional was held:

6-Centrum/DDC, Worcester
4-Pepsi Arena, Albany
2-Joe Louis, Detroit
2-Munn, East Lansing
2-Yost, Ann Arbor
2-Dane Co., Madison
2-Van Andel, Gr. Rapids
1-Civic Ctr., Providence
1-Mariucci, Mpls

Nobody with a "bigger, nicer, newer" arena bid for one. That was just with 6 teams, so now add in 2 more and see who wants to take on the logistics. The handful of buildings that might be capable of pulling it off wouldn't take 5 days out of their schedule to lose money.

Just so we clarify this, here's what an 8 team regional single site would look like if you tried to expand it to play over 4 days:

Wed - 4 teams from Pod A practice, Pod A media availability
Thu - 4 teams from Pod B practice, Pod B media availability, Pod A plays 2 games (no morning skate available to Pod A)
Fri - 2 teams from Pod A practice, Pod A media availability, Pod B plays 2 games (no morning skate available to Pod B)
Sat - 2 teams from Pod B practice, Pod B media availability, Pod A plays 1 game (morning skate available to Pod A)
Sun - Pod B plays 1 game (morning skate available to Pod B)

I don't think you'd find any takers.
 
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